


I Know

by snowballschance35



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Royalty, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Retelling, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22676389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowballschance35/pseuds/snowballschance35
Summary: Something about Cloud City puts Poe on edge.An Empire Strikes Back FinnPoe Remix
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47





	I Know

**Author's Note:**

> Please enjoy this weird thing I felt compelled to write.

Poe had a bad feeling about this.

  
He couldn’t shake the odd sense of foreboding even after they had successfully made an emergency landing for repairs, finding sanctuary from the First Order in a gas mining colony on Bespin after the Millennium Falcon had been damaged in the aerial dogfight.

  
Seeing Finn and Slip together was not helping matters.

  
Poe had never thought of himself as the suspicious type, even after years of military service and cutthroat diplomacy he’d been subjected to as Prince of Alderaan. However, Slip, as Finn had joyfully greeted his old infantry friend when they’d first landed, put Poe on edge with his easy smiles and the charm coming out of his ears.

  
It absolutely was not jealousy, Poe thought as he watched Slip’s arms wrap around Finn’s shoulders standing next to the landing gear of the Millennium Falcon.

  
It wasn’t. Really.

  
“And what do we have here?” Poe found himself the sudden object of Slip’s heated gaze, bordering on a leer, as the Steward of Cloud City took one of Poe’s hands and tenderly kissed the prince’s knuckles, looking him over from his wind-tousled curly hair, to his pilot uniform unzipped to the waist from trying to do repairs on the Falcon, to his mud splattered boots.

  
“Poe.” Poe answered simply, raising one eyebrow.

  
“Easy there, Flatfoot.” Finn said to Slip, taking Poe’s hand from the other man’s grip and leading Poe toward the building, the comforting sound of BB-8’s metal body rolling against the tarmac and Chewbacca’s heavy furred footsteps behind them. Poe breathed a sigh as he felt Finn’s warm hand settle on the small of his back. He told himself it was relief to be out of the wind.

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

Poe tried to keep his annoyance from showing on his face as she looked out onto the splendor of Cloud City, speeders zooming past leaving wisps of the city’s namesake in their wake.

  
He could not wait to take Finn, BB-8 and Chewie, get on a ship and get back to the stars.

  
“Good news!” Poe turned at the sound of Finn’s voice following the swish of the guest suite’s door opening and closing. “Repairs are almost done – a few more tweaks and we’re in great shape.”

  
“The sooner the better.” Poe answered, glaring at nothing in particular as he walked toward Finn. “Something isn’t right here. No one has seen or knows anything about what happened to BB-8 and he does not get lost. Where the hell is my droid?”

  
Poe felt Finn’s strong hands gently take his shoulders and place a tender kiss on his forehead. Poe continued to scowl – irritated and unable to tell whether it was because of Finn’s comforting gesture or the fact that it was working on him like a charm.

  
“I’ll talk to Slip.” Finn said, souring Poe’s mood once again. “See what I can find out.”

  
“I don’t trust Slip.” Poe growled moodily reaching down to subtly check his blaster in the holster strapped to his thigh and looking into Finn’s gorgeous, earnest face.

  
Finn opened his mouth answer when the door to their chambers swished open once again. Poe’s jaw dropped when he saw what Chewie was carrying.

  
“What happened?” Poe exclaimed, examining the broken pieces of BB-8’s round little body placed haphazardly in a basket cradled in Chewie’s arms.

  
Chewie roared his answer.

  
“A junkpile?” Poe asked, distressed. “Can you fix him, Chewie?”

  
Poe breathed a sigh as Chewie growled a confident affirmative.

  
Or a hesitant affirmative. Poe must admit, his Wookie is a bit rusty.

  
Poe felt Finn come up next to him to rub a comforting circle between his shoulder blades.

  
“Slip’s guys can fix him.” Finn offered helpfully. Poe tired not to lose his patience. He’d known for awhile now that Finn was an incredibly trusting soul. It was part of what drew Poe to him so much.

  
“No, thanks.” Poe said, curling a lip at Finn before the door swished open once again.

  
“Am I interrupting?” Slip asked.

  
“Nope.” Poe answered shortly before Finn had a chance.

  
Slip smiled as he gave Poe’s body a thorough once over. The attendants had thoughtfully provided clothing to replace the prince’s torn, dirty flight uniform he had arrived in. Made of the finest materials, they consisted of an impossibly soft white linen shirt that Poe knew showed off his tan chest and collarbones, rolled up to his muscled forearms. The perfectly tailored pants made his ass look incredible if the mirror in his barrowed chambers was any indication.

  
The look that Finn had given Poe when he first appeared after changing, licking his lips idly in appreciation of Poe’s appearance was one that sent a thrill of heat into Poe’s belly, but now, under Slip’s attention, he found himself crossing his arms across his chest.

  
“You look absolutely beautiful.” Slip said to Poe, smiling. “You truly belong here with us among the clouds.”

  
“Thank you.” Poe said politely, relieved at Finn’s sudden presence at his side, Finn’s hand resting easily on Poe’s hip as he wrapped his arm around him.

  
“I was hoping you’d care to join me for a little refreshment.” Slip asked, looking directly at Poe before quickly adding “Everyone’s invited, of course.”

  
“Sure.” Finn said immediately, pressing Poe into his warm side and the prince leaned indulgently into him. “Lead the way.”

  
“Having trouble with your droid?” Slip asked, eying the pieces of BB-8 as Chewie set his basket on the ground.

  
“No trouble.” Finn said casually. “Why do you ask?”

  
Poe stifled a grin as Finn escorted him out of their quarters and looked over at Finn’s hidden little smile, feeling his stomach swoop with want.

  
Finn stayed close to Poe’s side as the four of them walked through the bustling Cloud City hallways, one hand on Poe’s back and the other waving at this side close to his blaster holster. Anyone else would have seen the movement as casual, but Poe recognized the coiled gesture from the infantryman turned smuggler.

  
Finn was on edge, too.

  
Despite this development, Poe found that conversation with Slip began to flow easily; learning about the ins-and-outs of running a struggling mining operation and negotiations with different guilds that worked there was surprisingly engaging. Poe felt himself begin to relax marginally. The damage to BB-8 notwithstanding, their visit had been fairly pleasant. Perhaps he was being a little too harsh on Finn’s old friend.

  
“I’ve just made a deal that will keep the First Order out of here forever.” Slip was saying proudly and Poe raised his eyebrows in interest as the door in front of them slid open.

  
Poe’s heart flew into his throat when he heard Chewie’s roar and felt Finn shove him behind him protectively, hearing the smuggler’s blaster fire a few times before it was ripped from his hand.

  
By the Force.

  
“We would be honored if you would join us.” Poe heard a very, very unwelcome electronic voice say smoothly.

  
Poe looked on in horror as Kylo Ren in all his masked hooded glory stood at his impressive full height at the other end of the table. Phasma stepped out of an alcove behind him, leveling her rifle at them threateningly.

  
Finn and Poe looked at Slip, who stared back, his lips in a grim line.

  
“I had no choice.” Slip said as the rebels were promptly surrounded by Stormtroopers. Finn tried to tuck Poe further behind him, but that did not stop one of the Troopers from stepping forward to relieve Poe of his blaster still in the holster. “They arrived just before you did.”

  
Poe ground his teeth together, glaring at Slip as Finn wrapped him more firmly in his arms.

  
“I’m sorry, too.” Finn said, anger and hurt in his voice that broke Poe’s heart.

  
Together Finn, Poe, and Chewie were prodded into the room by the barrels of the Stormtroopers’ blasters.

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

All members of the Alderaanian Royal Family were trained from birth to be able to withstand interrogation, even the advanced, torturous kind. Poe had read in the history archives that this training was to prevent them from becoming targets of enemy forces, a proud line of Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses that would not bow to any terrorist method thrown at them.

  
What a bunch of bantha shit.

  
Poe did not feel proud, he did not feel resolute, he did not feel like the Alderaanian Prince that he was.

  
Not when he could hear Finn screaming from the next cell.

  
It was hard to tell whether or not Poe would have been willing to give away any Resistance secrets. Thrashing helplessly in the middle of the room with his hands tied behind his back; teeth clenched tightly against the gag preventing him from biting his tongue and every horrible pain inducing drug known to the galaxy burning agony through his veins, he had yet to hear a single question asked of him.

  
Yet they didn’t seem to want to permanently harm him, or give him the ability to harm himself.

  
How considerate.

  
The pain didn’t bother him, nor was he surprised by it. This was not the first time he had been interrogated by First Order Stormtroopers and they were nothing if not consistent. The purpose of this particular session appeared to be pure, unfiltered sadistic torture, instead of getting any information out of him. It should have been a comforting thought, but Poe could not find it in himself to be grateful at the moment.

  
He had never known the despair of hearing someone you love suffer and not being able to do anything about it.

  
However, if hearing Finn’s screams was terrible, suddenly no longer hearing them was much, much, much worse.

  
The effects of the drugs were just beginning to wear off when Poe felt his bonds cut, the gag untied from his slack mouth. He barely had the strength to stand, much less fight the hands that pulled him toward the door into the next room.

  
Poe had managed to get his feet under him just as he was shoved in a different holding cell, stumbling to his hands and knees as Chewie gently lay a disturbingly limp Finn on a cot that retracted from the wall. Poe almost cried with relief when he heard Finn groaning and saw him moving on his own, alive. Poe didn’t bother to straighten up and crawled over to him, pride be damned. Laying his head on Finn’s chest, Poe began stroking Finn’s hair.

  
“Why are they doing this?” Poe whispered the fabric of Finn’s shirt, taking comfort in the strong heartbeat he heard there.

  
“They never even asked me any questions.” Finn croaked.

  
A small, hurt beep from across the room drew Poe’s attention and he watched as BB-8’s half-repaired, lopsided body limped over to where he sat crumpled next to Finn’s cot. Poe let out a tiny sob as he laid his hand gently on BB-8’s body, touching his forehead to BB-8’s. The partially repaired droid cooed back at him softly.

  
The sound of the door swishing open was enough to drag Poe back to the present, scrambling to put his body between Finn and the newcomer.

  
Slip’s ashen face greeted them along with a few of his cyborg attendants and Poe never wanted to punch someone more in his entire life.

  
“Slip.” Poe whispered to Finn. Finn’s face twisted with pain as he sat up and Poe hurried to help him face his old friend to the sound of Chewie snarling.

  
“Get out of here, Slip.” Finn growled through clenched teeth.

  
“Shut up and listen!” Slip hissed back. “Ren’s agreed to turn Poe and Chewie over to me.”

  
“Over to you?” Finn asked, gripping the back of Poe’s shirt in concern. Poe should have been annoyed by the possessive gesture, but he couldn’t help but take comfort in it.

  
“They’ll have to stay here but at least they’ll be safe.” Slip reasoned with them.

  
“I think I would rather be kicked out of an airlock in orbit.” Poe said. “What about Finn?”

  
“Ren’s given him to Phasma.” Slip said. “She needs him alive when she turns him into Hux.”

  
“Ren wants us all dead!” Poe growled.

  
“He doesn’t want you at all!” Slip shouted. Poe felt a dark thrill of satisfaction at the frustration in his voice, his eyes shifting around his surroundings as if he was worried about someone overhearing. “He’s after some girl named Rey!”

  
It all clicked into place. Poe felt like being sick and he felt Finn tense beside him.

  
“Rey?” Finn’s eyes were wide.

  
“Ren’s set a trap for her.”

  
“And we’re the bait.” Poe finished. “It’s the reason for all this. Rey can feel us, she can feel what’s happening to us and come running – right to Kylo Ren.”

  
“Ren’s under the impression that she’s on her way.” Slip finally said. Chewy roared angrily.

  
Poe felt Finn lunge before he saw it, watching as his fist made a satisfying crack against Slip’s face, sending him sprawling before Finn was knocked down by Slip’s guards. Poe dove after him and was kicked in the ribs for his trouble. He lay on the ground, coughing as more of Slip’s attendants converged on them.

  
“Enough!” Slip shouted, stopping all the movement in the cell. “Look, I’ve done all I can. I’m sorry it’s not more but I’ve got my own problems.”

  
“Boo fucking hoo.” Finn spat up at him from the floor. Slip clenched his fists as Finn stared him down for a moment before turning and walking from the cell, followed by his guards.

  
Poe dropped to his knees next to Finn as he winced, trying to maneuver himself into a sitting position again, accepting Chewie’s help and Poe’s gentle hands gratefully.  
“I ever tell you what a smooth talker you are?” Poe asked Finn, letting the warmth at the sound of Finn’s soft huff of laughter and tine little smile fill his aching, dread filled heart.

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

It seemed like the painful spasms caused by Finn’s time in the torture chair had just subsided when they were being ordered to their feet. Finn and Poe shared a look as Stormtroopers pulled their arms behind their backs and tightened binders around their wrists. Chewie was bound as well, large paws in front of him. Luckily, BB-8 repairs were to the point where he was round enough to keep up with them again.

  
“Comfortable, your highness?” One of them said to Poe, catching sight of the wince the prince was not quite able to squash as his binders tightened on his wrists painfully.

  
“Not really.” Poe snarked as the Stormtroopers shoved them out the door and marched them down to the basement levels.

  
They must have been near the space docks, most of the loading and unloading work was done by droids so a majority of the light came from orange glow of the steam tunnels down below the metal grating under their boots. Finn glanced at Poe and Poe tried valiantly to project an aura of strength and courage – a true rebel in the face of death. No doubt he’d fallen short.

  
They were most likely being marched to their execution- why they weren’t just shot in their cell, Poe couldn’t say, but he knew what was coming was probably much worse.

  
The reached their destination in front of a dark, foreboding apparatus: a large hole in the floor with cooling pipes snaking from the circuitry below, an enormous metal arm suspended above. Across the chamber, Kylo Ren stood, dressed all in black, his arms easily at his sides. Relaxed.

  
“Ren!” Poe yelled. “Why have you brought us here?”

  
Kylo Ren’s helmeted head tilted to the side curiously, staring at Poe. The prince glared back, refusing to be cowed by a costumed madman.

  
“He’s here to test the carbon freezer.” Kylo Ren’s mechanical voice said without emotion, nodding once to Finn. “But if we’re lucky, you, Prince Poe Dameron, rebel scum and traitor, are here to watch him die.”

  
“No!” Poe yelled, grabbed by Stormtroopers before he could make a run at Kylo Ren.

  
Chewie roared and started to knock over Stormtroopers as they began to approach Finn. Finn watched as Phasma look at Finn, making sure he was watching her, then raised her rifle to point it at Poe.

  
In that moment, Finn knew with dreadful certainty that there was no escape, but at the same time he found hope in the knowledge that there was still something that he could do.

  
Protect the ones he loved.

  
Protect Poe – his beautiful, courageous, stubborn prince.

  
“Stop!”

  
Finn spoke with such command that everything did indeed stop. Finn turned to Chewie and spoke with a calmness that he did not think he was capable of in that moment as the Stormtroopers approached him to take his binders off.

  
“You’ll take care of Poe, won’t you, Chewie?” Finn asked the Wookie. Chewie gave a sullen growl of acknowledgement. Finn nodded and turned to Poe, watching as the prince’s beautiful dark eyes filled with tears.

  
“Finn, please…” Poe didn’t even know what he was begging for. For Finn to keep fighting? To make it all unreal? Wake him from this nightmare?

  
Oh, Finn wanted to. He wanted to share a lifetime of giving everything he had to Poe, going to sleep with him, waking up with him, sharing dreams and nightmares alike. He wanted to explore the universe with Poe, watch as he smiled and laughed, the starlight in his silken hair, his cheeks rosy with joy. Wanted to fly with him and lay with him, make Poe’s body his and give his own to Poe in return.

  
Finn gave Poe a shaky smile as his hands came free of the binders and he cradled Poe’s handsome face in his hands, pouring the rest of his life into the kiss he gave him. Poe inhaled deeply, pressing as much of his body against Finn as he could, wetting Finn’s cheeks with his tears and taking everything Finn had to give.

  
He would’ve given Poe everything if he had only had the chance.

  
“Put him in.”

  
Entirely too soon, Poe felt Finn dragged away from him his kiss and toward the freezing chamber. Poe watched helplessly as Finn gave him another shaky smile and Poe felt like screaming, but the noise died choking in his throat. Instead, he immediately knew what he had to say, knew what he wanted Finn to know if he took his last breath right here, right now.

  
“I love you.” Poe called out, his voice strong and clear. Finn’s smile widened.

  
“I know.” Finn answered simply.

  
The hiss of the chamber as the platform that Finn was standing on was lowered roared into Poe’s ears and the prince made another helpless desperate lunge for the chamber, to be with Finn, but he was still held fast by the Stormtroopers.

  
“Please!” Poe shouted, staring desperately into Finn’s wide eyes. “Please, no! I’ll do anything! Finn!”

  
The freezer belched a cloud of white smoke and Finn closed his eyes as he was engulfed. The only sound that could be heard after the procedure was complete was Chewie’s mournful howling and Poe’s labored breathing, tears still running down his cheeks.

  
With a hiss of hydraulics, the arm reached down in the white steam to pull out what looked like silvery gray slab of rock. As the steam cleared, Poe looked on in horror when he saw Finn, his face twisted in pain, reaching out of the carbonite as if trying to escape from it. The panel slammed to the grating with a deafening bang and Poe buried his face into Chewie’s soft fur.

  
“Did he survive?” Poe heard Ren ask as Slip knelt next to Finn.

_Please..._ Poe thought.

  
“Yes, he’s alive.” Slip answered. “And in perfect hibernation.”

  
Poe could not bite back the sob of relief that escaped him in the silent room. Finn… he was alive. There was still a chance.

  
“He’s all yours.” Ren threw over his shoulder to Phasma. Poe watched her helmeted head nod. “Reset the chamber for the girl.”

  
Finn was loaded onto a hover gurney and Slip walked over to Poe and Chewie.

  
“Take Prince Dameron and the Wookie to my ship.” Ren instructed.

  
Poe was pulled numbly from the chamber, looking over his shoulder at the panel where Finn lay imprisoned until he couldn’t see the love of his life anymore.

  
Finn was alive. He was alive.

  
And Poe was going to rescue him if it was the last thing he did.

**Author's Note:**

> Then there was a gold bikini involved and everyone lived happily ever after.
> 
> That's right, I saw a need for a gayer, more melodramatic very specific chunk of Empire Strikes Back and I was like "It's my time to shine, y'all."


End file.
